Autumn Coat

Finally something for me! I've been thinking of making a coat for myself for a while, and finally located a pattern I really liked. It's actually for a raincoat, but I loved the slight A-line of the coat and decided to make it as a regular coat for the autumn (or for spring for that matter).

The coat was pretty easy to make, no big problems. I added a thin micro fleece lining but otherwise followed the pattern. Oh, and I made it at least two sizes smaller in width, because the pattern was absolutely huge for my thinnish shape. I lined the hood, pockets and front with a floral fabric (must check what it is).

Striped Shirts

My new favorites are these striped shirts I made for the boys. I’ve been terrified of sewing stretchy fabrics (apart from college and velour type of fabrics, such as in the Dotty hoodies), but I’ve finally found a solution.

I experimented with all the different stretch stitches my sewing machine has, and none of them would work on thin t-shirt knit. I googled the problem and tried new settings again and again. Nothing would work. Then I found out that a twin needle (with ball points!) might do the trick, tried it and – just like magic – it worked! No rolling, puckering or holes, just a nice, even line of stitches. Pheew.  

The two striped knits have been in my stash for a few years. I bought them from Marimekko's outlet shop in Sulkava on a summer holiday trip, and now I could finally make something out of them. Both fabrics are really soft and lovely, and I can say that frequent washing hasn’t changed them a bit. Marimekko still has the quality they are known for, it seems.

The shirt pattern (Ottobre 4/2007) is pretty basic except for the detail on the back side; the keyhole snap closure fits my boys' big heads. The ribbing is in contrasting colors, lime green and brown.

Fabric Baskets

I admit it. Our kitchen table tops are often filled with a myriad of small things whose origin or purpose no one seems to know. It's been bugging me for a long time but the solution took a long time coming. I've seen plenty of fabric baskets in blogs and I thought I'd give it a try using the Ikea fabric scraps I had lying around. I made three baskets: a really big one for the newspapers and magazines, and two smaller ones for all the unidentifiable small things. Kind of like them, and they make the kitchen look much brighter (considering that the kitchen is all-white, not by our own choice!).

Skull Hat

Here's yet another Christmas present, a knit Skull Hat. Loved the pattern, although the yarn is a bit too stretchy. I had to add an elastic to the first row... (Prym actually makes one called "knitting-in elastic", and it's really nice to use).

Tunturi Hat

I just realized that all my Christmas presents are going to be handmade, and that they are all hats! It’s a theme I’m happy to follow :) My brother who is the outdoorsy type is going to get a Tunturi Hat. It’s a free pattern by Shelby, so go ahead and download it for your own projects. "Tunturi" means a mountain or a fell, and I believe the hat will be used on one, too. I made my version from two types of fleece, a micro fleece for the inside and a thicker fleece on the outside.

Cap for Dad

Another version of the Summer Hat, this time it became a cap for my dad. We both have big heads, so finding a cap that would stay put even on windy days was an issue for him (and he loves sailing so you see that it is a problem).

The hat part is made from corduroy, and the sun brim and lining from an Ikea cotton fabric. Backside has an elastic to improve the fit and make the cap a bit more snug. Dad's using it so much that I think you could call this project a success!

Japanese Reversible Dress

As a mother of two boys, I'm always crawing to make girls' clothes, but rarely have the opportunity (I know, I could make them just for fun, but I prefer to make them for someone real, matching the fabrics to the personality). My friend's daughter just turned one, and I made a little reversible dress for her.

The pattern comes from a Japanese pattern book that I bought from ureshi's etsy shop. The book is all in Japanese, but the sewing instructions are very well illustrated and include clear how-to make diagrams for each step of the way. I'm not too sure how the sizing matches up with European, but I do think the patterns are on the smallish side.

Phoebe Bag

I had a Björn Borg shoulder bag for over five years but it was slowly starting to fall apart (or disintegrate, more like!). So it was time for a new bag, and it just happened that I had a small piece of a lovely mod fabric that I had saved for a special project.

I salvaged the shoulder strap and the zipper from the old bag, and made myself a brand new Phoebe Bag. Loving it. I didn't make the magnetic snap, but used the old zipper instead. In retrospect, I maybe should've used interfacing to support the mid-weight fabric, but then again, I didn’t want the bag to be too rigid either.

The Phoebe Bag pattern is by Rebeka Lambert of Artsy Crafty Babe, and I can recommend it highly.  Great pattern, well written, and it’s free, too!

Bean Bag

Here's one project that I should've made double right away - the bean bag. It's the favorite TV watching spot for my boys and something that is fought over quite often.

The bean bag is stuffed with small styrofoam beans (about 1 cm in diameter) which tend to be very static and fly all over... Here's the best tip I got for handling them: cover your hands with a fabric softener, at least up to the elbows. It reduces the static and makes filling the bean bag a lot easier.

I also made a second bag from an old sheet inside the cover, so that curious little boys can't just open the zipper and spill the beans, so to say ;) There are also two loops for handles for jumping around like a Hippity Hop. The pattern comes from Moda magazine 1/2008, and fabric is from Ikea.

Summer Hat

It's sometimes difficult to sew something for yourself, but now I had a good reason to do just that. My head is pretty big so it's kind of hard for me to find store hats that would fit well. So I made a dark greyish hat for the summer with some Ikea cotton fabric with a leaf motif. The original pattern comes from a magazine, but I made so many mods that it hardly resembles the original anymore.